Anti-Graft court enters not guilty plea for Estrada

The Sandiganbayan Second Division on Thursday entered a not guilty plea on behalf of Senator Jinggoy Estrada after he declined to enter a plea during his arraignment on graft charges.

Estrada did not physically appear before the anti-graft court and instead participated via videoconference. His counsel, Atty. Noel Ostrea, said the senator was suffering from osteoarthritis in both knees.

Prior to the arraignment, Estrada's camp filed an Urgent Omnibus Motion Ad Cautelam seeking the dismissal of the case on the grounds of insufficient basis.

However, Presiding Justice Geraldine Faith Econg said the court found no compelling reason to suspend the proceedings, citing the allegations contained in the complaint filed by the Office of the Ombudsman.

Econg noted that the defense failed to present documents from the Senate's Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office (LBRMO) purportedly showing that Estrada had no budgetary insertions under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) budget for fiscal year 2025.

The Ombudsman likewise acknowledged the LBRMO certification but argued that it was not conclusive proof.

“This certificate does not capture all stages of the budgetary process, wherein insertions may be made in a layered method,” the Ombudsman said in a statement.

The court set Estrada's pre-trial on 1 July, during which evidence will be marked, witness lists submitted, and trial dates determined.

The Sandiganbayan also ordered both the prosecution and defense to submit their comments within a non-extendible period of 10 days on the issue of Estrada's possible preventive suspension from the Senate.

Bonoan Status

In a related development, former DPWH secretary Manuel Bonoan, Estrada's alleged co-conspirator in the case, remains confined at The Medical City after recently undergoing an angiogram.

During the hearing, Econg asked Bonoan's counsel whether they could present a medical certificate to justify his absence from the arraignment.

The defense said neither they nor the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG), which has custody of Bonoan, had been provided a medical certificate by the hospital.

The court was also informed that despite his confinement at The Medical City, Bonoan remains under the custody and supervision of the PNP-CIDG.

Due to his absence, Bonoan's arraignment was reset to a later date.